Laurent Fignon, who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984, has advanced cancer of the digestive system and is undergoing chemotherapy, the Frenchman announced today.

"Two months ago, I was diagnosed with cancer of the digestive tract," Fignon said. "I started chemotherapy two weeks ago. It's going well." He said it was at an advanced stage and he would undergo more tests after this year's Tour.

The cancer is unlikely to have been caused by the performance enhancing drugs he took during his career, according to his doctors. Fignon has written a book, We were Young and Carefree, in which he describes his use of amphetamines and cortisone. "I don't know whether or not that played a role," Fignon said. "I don't know at all. It's impossible to say, yes or no. According to the doctors, apparently not." The 48-year-old said all cyclists of his generation used similar drugs, an accusation that drew criticism from other former riders.

"It's too easy today to imagine that it is because it's a cyclist that it's necessarily because he doped that he is sick," said Laurent Jalabert, a former top French cyclist.

Bernard Hinault, a five-time Tour winner, said: "Just because he [Fignon] did it does not mean that the others did it. It's always the same thing. That has to stop."